In many areas of the country and throughout the world, it remains extremely difficult to transport to a location drilling equipment necessary to drill shallow water wells. Inadequate or nonexistent roads prevent conventional, heavy truck mounted water well drilling equipment from reaching the desired location. Because the substantial roads required by such conventional truck mounted equipment are not available in many areas in underdeveloped countries, large areas throughout the world are effectively isolated from equipment necessary to drill water wells. A small, light weight, easily portable drilling system is needed that would allow shallow water wells to be drilled in currently isolated areas. The present invention addresses this critical need.
The present invention includes a drilling rig which may be easily disassembled and manually transported to drill bore holes in even the most remote areas on earth. The described drilling system includes a detachable mast, shuttle, winch assembly, power unit, and diverter valve which are easily disassembled from a support table to aid in transport. The winch assembly is attached to the mast and shuttle assembly through a chain to move the shuttle and power unit (connected to the shuttle) vertically up or down along the mast. The winch assembly includes a modified hand winch which accommodates a roller chain sprocket and is positioned on the mast as not to interfere with the travel of a power unit mount bracket attached to the shuttle. The hand winch has two gear ratios for varying pulldown or hoist loads or applications. The shuttle utilizes a hinge arrangement to allow the power unit to be pivoted out from over the bore hole or completely removed from the mast to aid in transport. The diverter valve is located on the mast to allow quick diversion of drilling fluid or air from the bore hole to a mud pit or visa versa. The location of the valve also allows hoses to travel freely and out of the way of the drilling operations.
The support table is equipped with a slide action pipe/casing slip and removable stabilizer support tubes. The support table is fabricated so as to allow the mast to be easily removable so the moderately weighted base table and mast can be hand transported separately.
A mast stay at the crown of the mast is fitted with clevises for tie down ropes necessary to secure the rig during operations where pulldown pressure is needed to make the bit penetrate and cut. The tie down ropes also help stabilize the mast during drilling operations.
A quill provides a means of connecting the power unit to the drill pipe and allows drilling fluid or air from a pump or compressor unit to enter the drill pipe through a side port. The quill is coupled to a power output shaft from the power unit.
A swivel housing is rigidly mounted to the rotary power unit mount but able to be adjusted to relieve any side load from the compression seals in the top and bottom of the swivel housing. The swivel housing is completely removable from the quill. By removing the bolt, the housing may be pulled from the bottom to allow greasing of the compression seals.
The present invention satisfies an important need not met by currently available drilling equipment. A primary advantage of this invention is that it provides a simple rotary drilling rig that is truly manually portable for transport into areas where other power drilling rigs could not be brought or taken except through helicopter transport. The present invention provides a drilling system with a durable mast and base unit and simple, commonly available components that are easily replaceable in the field to eliminate rig downtime for repair of worn parts. The system described is so simple enough to operate and repair that a person with only limited drilling experience can safety and effectively operate the rig after a short training period is completed.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that, despite its compact design, pulldown pressure can be applied to the drill pipe during bore hole drilling. Yet another advantage over other available drilling rigs is the ability to rotate or remove the power unit from over the bore hole without removing the mast or the rest of the rig. The described invention also includes a compact support base table that allows for the rapid threading and unthreading of drill pipe and surface casing through the use of slide action slips. Another advantage provided is a swivel arrangement that allows the power unit output to be connected to the drill pipe through a quill arrangement that may be used to direct air or drilling mud to the drill bit.
All these advantages of the present invention result in a lightweight, simplified, inexpensive drilling system that can drill water wells to depths of up to 200 feet in areas not currently accessible to conventional water well drilling equipment.